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Now that your Memorial Day hangover has cleared, you can hit the party circuit again. Should you hit up the eighth iteration of Mario Party?

Just like the House Party Trilogy, the Mario Party series has been love it or hate it. Champions of the series point to the rich Nintendo nostalgia and entertaining minigames, while critics decry the tedious board-based gameplay and randomness of victories. Check out some of the more unique observations we've culled from the first Wii-bound game in the series, Mario Party 8.

By far the most disparaging remarks have come from IGN. The site gave the game the lowest marks of the major sites with a 5.2. Matt Casamassina expresses his low hopes for the series and blames the latest version for failing to cure its ills:

Hudson and Nintendo really need to rethink the Mario Party formula, but will they? Not as long as these games keep selling, no. Discerning players will find this latest effort still has its moments, but also that they are fewer and farther between.

...In spite of our issues with the game, people who loved Mario Party 7 will probably enjoy Mario Party 8, too, but we've chosen not to reward Nintendo with an undeserved high score for a copy/paste sequel.

Yahoo Games offers up an even bleaker diagnosis of Nintendo's Wii/DS gaming strategy, despite giving MP8 a respectable 4/5 score. It's one that's definitely worth discussion:

Sooner or later, this mini-game fad that's been all the rage on the Wii and DS recently is going to pass its sell-by date, and it's already starting to smell a bit off. While Mario Party has been doing this ever since the Wii was a glint in Shigeru Miyamoto's eye, this time it's unfortunately landing on a platform that's already replete with games in its style.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is GamePro, giving the game an Editors' Choice award and a 4.5/5 score, and praising the game's new direction:

There's also a definite sense of refinement to the franchise formula here, a given considering that this is the eighth installment in the series. ...The biggest change from previous versions, obviously, lies in the use of the Wii Remote...

So far, our aggregation has culled six sites, pulling together a score of 6.9. That's about the score that I'd assign it, as it is an improvement over the last few entries in the series, but the continued lack of single player appeal is still a major issue. Check out all of our coverage for yourself!

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Blackbolt

Posted at: 05/31/07 at 8:09 AM PST

Well, it's very hard to critique a party game intended for multi-player on single player mode. It's no fun beating a computer. But it's truly enjoyable when you beat your friends. It's all about bragging rights. Although the mini-sports games in 5 and 6 were very fun. Other than that, Mario Party is intent on multi-player goodness.

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